As happens most Fridays, we have a puzzle from Phi
The grid is filled with everyday words. There are a few entries related to plays, musicals, theatres or concert halls but not enough, for me, to suggest there is a theme.
I’m not usually a fan of cross referencing other setters’ names in clues, but I did like the clue for MISDIRECTION at 6 down.
| No | Detail |
| Across | |
| 1 |
Hold out something that looks like a foot (4) LAST (hold out) LAST (shoemaker’s model of the foot on which boots and shoes are made or repaired) double definition LAST |
| 3 |
I’m now working with board from shifting trees (6,4) BIRNAM WOOD (reference Shakespeare’s Macbeth where one of the witches prophecies includes the words "Macbeth shall never vanquished be, until Great BIRNAM WOOD [trees] to high Dunsinane hill Shall come against him"; suggestion of ‘shifting trees’) Anagram of (working … with) I’M NOW and (with) BOARD BIRNAM WOOD* |
| 9 |
Son leaving European capital in expensive coat (4) MINK (an expensive coat made from expensive MINK fur [politically incorrect to do so now]) MINSK (capital city of Belarus) excluding (leaving) S (son) MINK |
| 10 |
Minor member of cast often subject to examination (10) UNDERSTUDY (a person who studies the part of an actor or other person in order to take over in an emergency – often the job of someone playing a minor part in the play). If required though, the UNDERSTUDY is an important and far from minor member of the cast. UNDER (subject to) + STUDY (examination) UNDER STUDY |
| 12 |
Somewhat obscure regarding US singer and curtailed repeat appearance (9) RECHERCHE (rare or exotic; somewhat obscure) RE (regarding) + CHER (reference CHER [born 1948], American singer) + CHER (again; repeat appearance) this time excluding the final letter R (curtailed) RE CHER CHE |
| 13 |
Best fish, entirely presented without tail (5) IDEAL (best) IDE (fish of the same family as the carp) + ALL (entirely) excluding the final letter L (presented without tail) IDE AL |
| 14 |
Power supplied by energy source in sudden intake (4) GASP (sharp, noisy intake of breath) GAS (source of energy) + P (power) GAS P |
| 15 |
Band entrances without piano skill, on reflection (9) ORCHESTRA (large company of musicians; band) PORCHES (entrances) excluding (without) P (piano) + ART (skill) reversed (on reflection) ORCHES TRA< |
| 19 |
Somehow it’s nicer to receive kiss from a foreign party? (9) EXTRINSIC (not contained in or belonging to a body; foreign) Anagram of (somehow) IT’S NICER containing (to receive) X (symbol for a kiss) E (X) TRINSIC* |
| 20 |
Petty restrictions placed around car accessory (4) TYRE (car accessory – more an essential than an accessory perhaps?) TYRE (hidden word in [placed around] PETTY RESTRICTIONS) TYRE |
| 21 |
Was keen about retaining revolutionary live work on program (5) DEBUG (find faults in a computer program and remove them) DUG (approved; was keen about) containing (retaining) BE (live) reversed (revolutionary) D (EB<) UG |
| 23 |
Councillor in type of work involving old, old fashion item (9) CRINOLINE (hooped petticoat or skirt made to project all round by means of steel wire; old fashion item) (CR [Councillor] + IN + LINE [type of work]) containing (involving) O (old) CR IN (O) LINE |
| 25 |
Perverse high lunar tide swamping loch (3-7) ILL-NATURED (deliberately wicked; ill-natured) Anagram of (high) LUNAR TIDE containing (swamping) L (loch) IL (L) NATURED– either L could be the one contained |
| 26 |
Supply side finally failing – it’s a joke (4) QUIP (joke) EQUIP (supply) excluding (failing) E (last letter of [finally] SIDE) QUIP |
| 27 |
Flower, one left in wind (6,4) EASTER LILY (any of several white-flowered LILies) (I [Roman numeral for one] + L [left]) contained in (in) EASTERLY (a wind) EASTER L (I L) Y |
| 28 |
Tax: it’s absent from laughing matter, perhaps (4) LEVY (tax) LEVITY (laughter) excluding (absent from) IT LEVY |
| Down | |
| 1 |
Island native, flightless bird, going between both sides (5) LEMUR (animal native to Madagascar) EMU (flightless bird) contained in (going between) (L [left] + R [right] representing both sides) L (EMU) R |
| 2 |
Soprano, working with contralto, engaged in hard work and lyrical expertise (9) SONGCRAFT (the art of writing or singing songs; lyrical expertise) S (soprano) + ON (working) + (C [contralto] contained in [engaged in] GRAFT [hard work]) S ON G (C) RAFT |
| 3 |
Head of college in university repeatedly found in pubs? That’s not suspicious (9) INNOCUOUS (harmless; not suspicious) (C [first letter of {head of} COLLEGE] contained in [in] [OU {Open University} + OU {Open University} again, repeat]) all contained in (found in) INNS (pubs) INN (O (C) U OU) S |
| 5 |
Relative a German upset over church (5) NIECE (relative) EIN (one of the German forms of the indefinite article, a) reversed (upset [down entry]) + CE (Church [of England]) NIE< CE |
| 6 |
Cryptic behaviour? I cite Nimrod’s puzzling (12) MISDIRECTION (give incorrect information, or in cryptic crossword clues, to suggest something different from what is really intended; cryptic behaviour) Anagram of (puzzling) I CITE NIMROD’S MISDIRECTION* |
| 7 |
Old safety mechanism is valuable (2,3) OF USE (valuable) O (old) + FUSE (electrical safety mechanism) O F USE |
| 8 |
Apply solvent to uninteresting carbon prop (3-5) DRY CLEAN (to CLEAN clothes, etc using, for example, a petroleum-based solvent rather than water) DRY (uninteresting) + C (chemical symbol for carbon) + LEAN (prop [LEAN against] DRY C LEAN |
| 11 |
Agency worker, with hint about richness, taking a chance (8,4) TEMPTING FATE (doing something risky; taking a chance) TEMP (agency worker) + (TINGE [slight trace of; hint of] containing [about] FAT [rich]) TEMP TING (FAT) E |
| 16 |
Church in Spain covered in material that’s black and red (9) COCHINEAL (scarlet dyestuff; red) (CH [church] + IN + E [International Vehicle Registration for Spain]) all contained in (covered in) COAL (material that’s black) CO (CH IN E) AL |
| 17 |
Vileness, putrid, spreading in a day (9) TURPITUDE (vileness) Anagram of (spread) PUTRID contained in (in) TUE (TUEsday; a day) TU (RPITUD*) E |
| 18 |
Possible target for repairing telephone problem (8) DEADLINE (last possible time for doing something) DEAD LINE (descriptive of a telephone problem) DEAD LINE |
| 22 |
Advertising expenditure? (5) BILLS (advertising [posters]) BILLS (invoices for expenditure) double definition BILLS |
| 23 |
Ill-bred fellow caught having fling (5) CHURL (ill-bred, surly fellow) C (caught) + HURL (fling with violence) C HURL |
| 24 |
Vacuous compassion I expressed after the writer tumbled over (5) EMPTY (vacuous) ME (the writer) reversed (tumbled over) + PITY (compassion) excluding (expressed) I EM< PTY |
Against tough opposition this was my pick of the day-all clues were neat and uncontrived
Loved BIRNAM WOOD and even the simple MINSK
And I loved the Nimrod clue
Thanks Dunc and Phi
I worked clockwise around the grid, with the SW corner taking a while to fall in. 8D delayed me a little, being fixated on ‘drear’ for ‘uninteresting’. Most enjoyable, so thanks Phi and Duncan.
No real problems, although in the NW corner it took us a while to get our last two in, RECHERCHÉ and SONGCRAFT.
We don’t have an issue with referring to other setters by name – but we do think that clues which require knowledge of setters’ names are unfair – for instance “Setter in present age is garden pest (5)” which requires the solver to know that Phi is a setter’s name. But the clue for MISDIRECTION can be solved without knowing that Nimrod is a setter – although that adds a bit of extra satisfaction for those in the know.
A satisfying and enjoyable solve. CoD? the aforesaid MISDIRECTION.
Thanks, Phi and Duncan.
One of those puzzles where, once you have finally finished it, you wonder why you found it so hard. Everything was fairly clued. As well as the above I enjoyed COCHINEAL for it’s image of conceptual art.
Very much enjoyed this. For some reason 1A made me laugh. I wonder how Phi felt about having to compose a novel clue for ORCHESTRA (he succeeded of course).
You mean not having the dancing carthorse?
The theme is one where now even I can’t recall all the components: EMPTY ORCHESTRA is part of it, as are DEADLINE, MISDIRECTION and TEMPTING FATE. Possibly there’s another one.
It occurred to me that Steve Pemberton who writes Inside No. 9 has been known to announce a new series with a crossword. There was even one in The Guardian tied to a specific episode. So here we have a few episode titles from the first five series. The DVD of series 6 finally arrived the other day and is being saved up as a Christmas treat.
All done and all parsed, although I had no chance of spotting the theme. Never heard of Inside No 9, or Steve Pemberton for that matter, but looked it up and found LAST GASP as Episode 4.
I had trouble getting into this one, and even after doing a word search, I failed to spot 26ac – well, it is getting late.
Hardest Phi for a while. Finally finished it Monday evening after starting it Saturday morning! As per usual had no idea about the theme! Thanks, Phi & Dunc